


Heathens

by xxawalkinwonderlandxx



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Azgeda is a cartel, Clarke and Bellamy work for different bosses, F/M, How can she be expected to actually work with him?, I don't know how to tag this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:48:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23040469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxawalkinwonderlandxx/pseuds/xxawalkinwonderlandxx
Summary: Clarke works under Marcus Kane, along with Roan Azgeda to help bring down his mother's cartel. What she doesn't know, though, is that there's also someone else who's trying to bring down the same cartel until one night leaves Raven with a gundshot wound and a broody asshole in Clarke's apartment. How bad can this be?
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin
Comments: 16
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thanks to swainslake on Twitter for getting me to post all of my WIPs :)
> 
> Title: "Heathens" by Twenty One Pilots — which is also the thing that inspired this fic!

To say that Clarke’s people didn’t accept new comers was an understatement. They trusted each other, and they protected each other, and anyone they didn’t know caused tensions to rise and it never ended well. When Clarke ran away from home at sixteen with her best friend, it had been because she found out that her mom and Well’s dad had her father killed. Since then, she’s picked up a lot of people.

The first one they picked up was Raven Reyes, a genius with a love of mechanics. Her father had died and her mother turned to alcohol to help cope, along with staying out all hours of the night and not bothering to make sure Raven even had enough food in the house for a sandwich. Raven had left home at seventeen with her boyfriend Finn Collins, though they quickly separated when Clarke told her how Finn had tried to hit on her. They didn’t know where he was now.

The next person they picked up was Harper McIntyre. She was a beautiful as she was deadly with a gun and she credited it all to her father taking her hunting when she was younger. Apparently Harper had gotten mixed in with the wrong crowd and got sent to juvie enough to where her parents disowned her and she was left with no where to stay. So, Clarke and her friends took her in.

They picked up a boy named Jasper Jordan not too long after that. A total stoner but a chemistry god if Clarke had ever seen one. He told them that he and his best friend had gotten taken in for carrying marijuana without a medical card and while his friend’s parents had gotten his friend out, his parents never showed. They had up and moved and left him alone.

This was the rag-tag group of friends that Clarke had collected over the two years after she left home, and they had become her family. Clarke and Wells both had trust funds, so before they left they found a way to clear them out without their parents noticing before they left. They only took two months of planning their leaving, and then they disappeared. With some help from Raven’s friend Zeke Shaw, a former pilot in the Air Force, they were able to pay for a loft apartment under his name for all of them to live. It was more than any of them expected when they first left, but now they were home.

“Clarke! What’s for dinner?” Jasper leaned over the top railing and looked down at her. She was sprawled out on the couch with her laptop propped up beside her. In addition to Raven’s ability to completely take a car apart and put it back together, she also knew how to get free Wi-Fi.

“I don’t know, what’s Rae saying?”

“She said to ask you.”

“Ugh.” Clarke looked up at Jasper and raised her eyebrows. “What do you want for dinner?”

“I don’t know, I was thinking pizza.”

“You had pizza night before last, Jasper, you can’t have pizza every night!” Wells called from the bathroom.

“Says who!”

“Dietitians.” Harper appeared at the railing beside Jasper. “How about we do spaghetti?”

“I think I’d like spaghetti.” Clarke looked at the two of them. “Who wants spaghetti?” Clarke yelled and then there was a chorus of agreements from Raven and Wells. “Spaghetti it is.”

An hour later, everyone was crowded around the kitchen working on dinner. Jasper was in charge of making sure everyone was doing their jobs since he was high and they didn’t trust him around the stove, Harper was keeping an eye on the noodles, Wells was cooking the ground meat, and Raven and Clarke were making buttery garlic bread. Jasper put his phone on the dock and started dancing around the kitchen with a wooden spoon, making everyone laugh as he pulled Raven in to dance with him.

Clarke stopped working and looked around at her friends. Despite their pasts, they all fit well together and Clarke was grateful that she had found her people. Growing up, it had pretty much been just her and Wells doing things together and they never needed anyone else, but it was nice having more people in their group. When the food was done, they all made their plates and gathered around the living room to eat. They hadn’t bothered buying a dining table, they liked just piling onto the couches and the floor.

“So, when is our next hit?” Jasper asked around a mouthful of bread.

“I still think we should wait a couple of weeks. They still haven’t recovered from our last one.” Harper said simply, but Jasper didn’t agree.

“But that’s the perfect time to hit them! They won’t be expecting it.”

“But that also means we won’t get a big payout.” Raven pointed out and there was murmur of agreements.

“Look, he said that he would always make it worth our while if we were able to make any hits, but I think Raven is right. If we do it now, there’s no telling how much we’ll make.”

“But if we do it now then that means there’s less of a risk of us getting hurt.” Wells spoke up and Clarke turned to look at him. “All I’m saying is, is that even though it may not be big, it might still be worth it.”

Clarke regarded her friend. Wells was never one to really offer his opinions on these things since he always said that Clarke was more of the mastermind when it came to calling the shots, but she knew that he didn’t particularly like the fact that they risked their lives like this. Yeah, they had their own jobs but this was a way to make a lot of money really quickly and none of them ever shied away from it. Clarke remembers what Raven had told him one night after a close call: “ _You only live once, Jaha, why no raise some hell while you’re at it?_ ”

“If Wells thinks it’s a good plan, then I do too.” Clarke nodded at her friend and turned towards everyone else. “What about y’all?”

“You know I’ll follow you anywhere, Griffin.” Raven smirked and held up her glass of whiskey.

“Just give me a gun.” Harper smiled before popping a meatball in her mouth.

“I’m ready for a party.” Jasper grinned.

“Alright, then it’s settled. We’ll plan during the day tomorrow and attack at night.”

They planned from the crack of dawn until the sun set, going over every possible scenario and making contingency plans for everything. They had done this enough now to where it was like second nature to them. They had already taken out some of the other illegal rings and all that was left now was to completely topple Azgeda’s empire. While Roan wasn’t bad to look at, his mother was terrible. Which is why he even agreed to help them in the first place. The plan was to knock out Nia’s control and then place Roan at the head, even if he did have a kill order out on him.

Once their plans were finalized, Clarke texted Roan asking him if he wanted to have dinner and he said yes. Within fifteen minutes, he was knocking at her door with a bottle of vodka in his hands. As far as anyone knew, there was a relationship between Clarke and Roan, but that was all for show.

“Aw, babe, you brought my favorite.” Clarke smiled when she opened the door and gave Roan a kiss on the cheek before pulling him inside. Once they were away from the door, her smile fell and she turned to look at him. “Sure you weren’t followed?”

“I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you, Clarke, I think I know how to slip away without being noticed.”

“I bet you’re good at slipping with how greasy your hair is.” Raven smirked from her place at the planning board.

“It’s not greasy, I’m trying out a new hair gel.”

“The hair gel makes it look greasy.” Clarke patted Roan’s arm then took the bottle of alcohol from him. She could see the amusement in his eyes and she winked at him.

“So, you’re planning another attack? So soon?”

“Quick and easy. Get in, get out, they won’t even know what hit them.” Raven stated simply.

“But that last attack was brutal, they’re on high alert now. If I were you, I’d wait.”

“Which is why we brought you here.” Clarke linked her arm with his and guided him towards the board. “We need to know how many men they have posted and we have plans for different entrance points. We just need to know which one to use.”

Roan looked around at all of them. He was by far the oldest, Clarke was eighteen and Roan was twenty-five but he didn’t treat them like kids. He knew they were deadly. He focused his gaze on Clarke and she could see him wondering if she was serious about going through with it, but of course he did.

“If any of you get caught, I can’t help you.”

“Wouldn’t expect it, Azgeda.” Clarke gave him a tilted smile and he sighed.

“You will be the death of me.” Roan crossed his arms and walked towards the board, inspecting it. “Okay, so going through here would be suicide…”

They all followed Roan’s orders to take the back entrance from the storage room and things were going along great, until they realized they weren’t the only ones who decided to attack them tonight. It was hard to tell who was who and which people were firing at them through the haze of the gunfire and yelling, but Clarke kept an eye on her people. She could hear one of Nia’s people, Ontari, yelling orders to their soldiers along with the deep voice of someone else yelling at their own people who Clarke could only assume was the leader of another group.

It wasn’t long before Clarke realized that the two other groups were going to tear each other apart and that they needed to get out of there. She called her people back and they started back tracking towards the storage room when there was a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye. When she turned to look, there was a guy standing a few yards away. She couldn’t make his face out, but he was dressed like the Azgeda crew. Clarke was too busy focusing on him to realize that there was another person to her side before Raven’s voice rang out.

“Clarke! Move!” Clarke turned in time to see the flash of a bullet leaving a gun and Raven knocking her to the ground. Jasper turned and shot towards the guy that had fired while Harper followed Clarke’s line of sight and shot the Azgeda member.

“Come on, we have to go!” Wells reached down to help Clarke up, but she knew something was wrong. Her back felt wet, and it wasn’t from the fact that Raven was on top of her.

“Raven!” Harper screamed and Clarke’s blood ran cold.

Clarke maneuvered herself from under Raven and turned around to look at her friend. Raven had been shot in the back and every worst case scenario ran through Clarke’s mind. But she had to think on her feet so she looked around the warehouse and spotted a lid to a crate that had been knocked off by something.

“Grab that lid!” Clarke pointed and Wells and Jasper ran to it and brought it back over. “Okay, on the count of three we have to roll her onto it. Got it?” She didn’t wait to see if anyone nodded, just positioned it as best she could. “I’m so sorry, Raven.” Clarke could feel tears starting to fall down her cheeks. “One, two, three!”

Raven let out an agonizing scream and Clarke was pretty sure it could be heard over the raging gunfire around them. There weren’t any good hand holds for any of them to use, but it lifted off the ground enough to where Wells and Jasper were able to slide their hands under the piece of wood and pick it up.

Harper went first and scoped every direction out before giving the rest of them the all clear to bring Raven through, and once they were out of the building, the gunfire became quieter and quieter the further they went. It wasn’t until they reached the old paint van that they bought a few months ago that Clarke allowed herself to let out a breath she had been holding since she saw that Raven had been shot; but she knew that they weren’t done yet.

With Clarke and Jasper in the back looking after Raven, Harper drove through the streets like a madwoman and Wells kept looking around to make sure they weren’t being followed. Raven’s eyes were closed but she was groaning and cursing, so Clarke knew that she was still coherent. Once they got back to the loft, they wasted no time bringing Raven in and setting her up on the island in the kitchen.

Despite having left home at sixteen, Clarke had spent a lot of her life in the hospital watching her mother work. At the age of twelve, Clarke had perfected giving stitches and, on multiple occasions, had to stitch Wells up when he got in a fight. Her mother also insisted on teaching Clarke how to get things out of the body, with the intent of having Clarke follow in her footsteps as being one of the best surgeons in their state.

Having Raven groaning in pain with blood soaking the piece of wood she was laying on and the counter beneath it, Clarke could feel herself beginning to panic. Clarke barked out orders then closed her eyes and took some deep breaths. Taking a bullet out of someone was something she had never done, or thought she would ever have to do, but she knew if they went to the hospital then the police would be involved and they couldn’t have that.

“Clarke, are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Jasper asked, wide-eyed and pale.

“Jasper, not the time.” Clarke said through gritted teeth. She was thankful that she had decided to buy a surgery and first aid kit a month ago, but she had hoped she wouldn’t have had to use it so soon. Clarke asked Wells to pour the vodka that Roan had brought onto her hands and then apologized to Raven before pouring it on the wound. Harper was holding a rag in Raven’s mouth and Clarke could hear Raven crying.

“Give me, the damn alcohol.” Raven gritted out between groans and Jasper was by her side, giving her some.

Clarke didn’t have time to think about anything else other than the task in front of her. She needed to remove the bullet and get her friend patched up before she lost anymore blood. She cleared her mind and willed herself to drown out everything around her before she placed the scalpel at her friends back and began to cut.

Forty-five minutes later and a full bottle of liquor, Raven was patched up and sleeping. Clarke didn’t know if Raven would ever be able to walk again with the nerve damage she undoubtedly had, but she knew that her friend was going to live and that was what counted.

The clock chimed 1:00AM and no one moved from their place in the living room. Raven was sleeping on a cot with Harper holding her hand while Jasper paced around the room with his gun slung across his shoulder. Clarke had just finished cleaning up the kitchen and was monitoring Raven’s vitals while Wells looked like he was trying to wrap his head around everything that had happened.

Everything was quiet. No one talked, and Raven’s breathing had evened out and wasn’t as ragged as it had been, they didn’t even hear any cars driving on the streets below. They all knew that this would happen at some point, but they didn’t know it would feel like this. This was real life, not a movie. It was when Jasper sniffed that Clarke turned to look at him. He was still pacing, his hands firmly gripping his gun, but Clarke could see the tears flowing down his face. She got up and walked over to him.

“Why don’t you go sit with her?” Clarke placed a hand on his shoulder. “I think you’ve been on guard long enough.”

Jasper looked at her, his eyes shining and slowly he nodded before taking his gun off and handing it over, so Clarke leaned over and placed it on an end table. He started to walk towards where Raven was sleeping but he stopped and turned around, wrapping Clarke in a huge bear hug that only Jasper could give.

“I’m glad everyone else is okay.” Jasper murmured into her shoulder and Clarke could feel herself finally letting the walls she had built up to help Raven, fall.

“Me too. And Raven is going to be okay.” Clarke pulled back and looked up at her friend. “We’ll take care of her.”

Jasper nodded then walked over to the free spot beside Raven and sat down, taking her hand. Clarke took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair. Their plan would have worked if that other group hadn’t been there. It’s one thing to start your own fire fight, it’s another to walk in the middle of one where you can’t tell who is on what side.

Wells got up, mumbling something about taking a shower and telling the rest of them that they should do the same and Clarke felt more weight get added to her shoulders. Wells never liked seeing people in pain, and he never liked being in the hospital with Clarke when she was shadowing her mom. He didn’t like blood either. And now, since he had been the one to suggest that they attack tonight, she knows he’s going to be blaming himself for what happened to Raven. But he couldn’t have known. None of them could.

There was a noise out on the fire escape that caused all of them to jump. Clarke whipped around and scanned the area but didn’t see anything. There was silence and Clarke focused herself on trying to get her heart rate down. She knew that there was possibility of it just being a cat, or a mouse, but the little voice in the back of her mind told her that it wasn’t too sure. No one moved as they waited to see if they heard another noise. There was nothing and Clarke let herself relax slightly then there was large shadow that passed in front of the window before crashing through the glass.

Everyone reacted. Clarke grabbed the hand gun out of the back of her pants, Harper went for the rifle hidden in the fire mantel, and Jasper went for the shotgun that was hidden under the coffee table since his rifle was out of reach. The sound of breaking glass was deafening and a group of figures dressed in black clamored through the window, raising their guns at Clarke and her friends.

“Don’t you know it’s considered rude to break into someone’s house?” Clarke snarled. “Why don’t you get the fuck out before I unload my clip into you.”

“Oh, feisty princess.” The voice that spoke was deep and Clarke realized it was the same voice from the warehouse.

“You were the ones that attacked the Azgeda Cartel tonight. Why?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“I asked you first.” The guy took his hood off and Clarke felt her mouth go dry. The man in front of her was attractive. _Stupidly_ attractive. But that wasn’t going to keep her from figuring out what she needed to know. Clarke cocked her gun. “One of your people shot mine and I want to know what the fuck you were doing in that warehouse tonight or I will put a bullet right between your eyes.”

The guy’s dark eyes shifted to where Raven was sleeping on the cot and Clarke positioned her gun. “What—”

“ _Jasper?_ ” A voice from the back of the group called and then stepped forward, removing his hood. He was Asian with black hair that swooped across his forehead and he looked like he just saw a ghost.

“ _Monty_!” Jasper put his gun down and jumped up, running towards the other guy. Clarke had heard enough stories about Jasper and his best friend Monty to know just how close the two of them had been. Like her and Wells. Who, as a matter of fact, ended up running into the room right then in a t-shirt and boxers holding the gun he usually kept hidden under his bed.

“Clarke, what—Is that Monty?” Wells’ eyes went wide as he watched the two friends reunite.

When the two of them pulled apart they were both crying, but this time it was from happiness. “I never thought I’d see you again”. Monty said as he took his friend in.

“What the hell are you doing here, Monty?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“Wow, I passout and miss all the fun.” Raven’s weak voice came from the cot and Clarke looked over at her. “Free surgery and a show. How nice could life get.” Raven managed a small smile and Clarke felt her heart constrict. She kept her gun raised but moved towards her friend.

“Raven, aside from the wound, how do you feel?”

“Like I’m ready to dance.”

“Harper, keep an eye on them and if anyone besides Monty and Jasper move, shoot them.” Clarke grumbled as she lowered her gun and turned her attention towards Raven. Her heartbeat was accelerated but she was breathing fine enough, all things considering.

“Don’t hurt yourself with that.” The leader from the other group directed that to Harper and anger curled in Clarke’s stomach.

“Don’t antagonize her.” Clarke called over her shoulder. “She’ll kill you where you stand and not get a drop of blood anywhere.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Raven glared the group of people. “One of you bastards shot me and I don’t take well to being shot.”

“Raven, you need to stay calm.”

“The hell I do—”

“ _Raven._ ” Clarke looked at the other girl and she could see Raven let go of her anger a little. Clarke stood up and looked at Wells. “Keep an eye on her.”

“Got it.”

Clarke turned back to the group of people and saw Jasper and Monty talking in hushed tones off to the side. “Jasper,” the boy turned to look at her, “why don’t you and Monty get something to drink.” She nodded towards the kitchen and Jasper realized what she was saying because he nodded and threw his arm around Monty’s shoulder’s guiding him towards the kitchen. She looked at the leader. “Tell the rest of your people to take off their hoods and then maybe we can have a conversation.

The guy stared at her for a second, giving nothing away, and then he nodded towards the rest of his people. One of the others was a girl who looked similar to guy in charge, but she also looked young. The other was dark skinned with brown hair, and the final one was pale with a face that looked very punchable.

“ _You_.” Raven spat the guy with the punchable face. “You’re the one who shot me. The one who was going to shoot Clarke.”

“In my defense, you shouldn’t have gotten in the way of my bullet.”

Clarke raised her gun. “You were going to shoot me, give me one reason why I shouldn’t shoot you.”

The guy turned to look at her lazily. He obviously didn’t care that he had at least two guns trained on him, ready to fire. “I was aiming for the Azgeda bastard on the other side.”

Raven snorted. “The you’re a terrible shot.”

The guy opened his mouth but he was cut off by the guy in charge. “Leave it, Murphy.” The other guy, Murphy, held up his hands then stuffed them in his pockets, leaning against the wall. “Since this is your place, why don’t you start off with why you were there tonight?”

“Oh my god, Bell,” the brunette groaned, “does it really matter who says what first?”

“Hey, Clarke,” Jasper called from the kitchen. “Can we give Octavia a bottle of water?”

Clarke turned back to the girl. “You thirsty?” Octavia nodded. “Help yourself.” The young girl didn’t look like a threat, though Clarke knew better than to underestimate her, but she wanted to try and make this whole situation go smoothly.

“Do you usually invite people who broke into your house for a drink?”

“I’m just trying to be polite.” Clarke sighed then put her gun down, uncocking it and putting the safety on then putting it back in her pants. “My name is Clarke. This is Harper, Raven, and Wells.”

“I’m Miller.” The guy standing beside Bellamy gave a nod.

“That asshole in the front is my brother Bellamy.” Octavia called from the kitchen and Clarke looked over, smirking at her. Octavia had hopped onto the island and was dangling her feet while drinking a bottle of water while Jasper and Monty ate from a bag of marshmallows.

“ _Octavia._ ” Bellamy growled and the other girl just shrugged.

“Harper, Wells, put your guns down.” She could see Harper hesitate for a moment before lowering her gun and walking over to the fireplace and setting it on top of it as Wells did the same. Even Clarke took her gun out and showed Bellamy before placing it next to Wells’. “There. Civil conversation time.”

Bellamy didn’t move and his stubbornness was beginning to wear on Clarke’s nerves. The first person to move was Miller, who took his gun off and placed it near the broken window and he glanced towards the kitchen before looking at Clarke.

“Help yourself.”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Bellamy sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “What the hell is this?”

“This is me being a decent human being, Bellamy.” Clarke huffed then walked over to the kitchen herself, grabbing a bottle of water for Raven. “If you actually want to have a conversation, I’m all ears.” Clarke walked back to where Raven was laying and helped her friend sit up, placing the bottle of water to her lips.

“Right.” Bellamy snorted but Clarke ignored him.

A few moments passed and Clarke motioned for Harper and Wells to go into the kitchen too. Harper glanced between Clarke and Raven before nodding but Wells hovered by Clarke’s side, not wanting to leave. Clarke mouthed _go_ and Wells squared his shoulders before following in Harper’s footsteps.

“Murphy,” Clarke started, turning to the boy by the window, “feel free to get something to drink or eat.” Murphy didn’t say anything, only smirked before swaggering into the kitchen and taking a bottle of water off the counter. Clarke looked back at Bellamy. “And then there were two.”

“That was your plan? Lure my people into your house with the promise of drinks and foods so you can get me alone and attack me?” Bellamy crossed his arms against his chest and gazed at her.

“She’s not very good at hand to hand stuff, but she can hold her own.” Raven chimed in from her cot and Clarke fought back a smile.

“I figured if you were going to insist on being stubborn, I wasn’t going to make your people suffer for it. It’s nearly two in the morning and we’ve all had a long night.”

“What is it that you want?”

“I just want to know what you were doing in that warehouse tonight.” Clarke said simply.

“It was a hit for our boss. We figured that their defenses would’ve been weakened because someone attacked them a week ago, but when we walked in we were ambushed.”

“Yeah, we were the ones that attacked last week.” Clarke sighed and she could see surprise flash across Bellamy’s face before she sat down on the couch. “You went through the cargo loading, didn’t you? That’s where they had their strongest defenses. No one would’ve suspected the storage room.”

“And how do you know that?” Bellamy narrowed his eyes at her.

“A hunch.” Clarke didn’t want to tell him about how the son of the crime boss was helping them. That information was only for her and her friends. “But as soon as we got in, all hell broke loose. Not because anyone saw us, because they didn’t, but because they saw you.”

“How do you work for?”

“I didn’t say I worked for anyone.”

“Call it a hunch.”

Clarke rolled her eyes at him. His sister did say he was an asshole. “Hitting Azgeda crew is a way to make good money fairly quickly. There’s a lot of people who would buy their goods.”

“You work for Kane.” Octavia’s voice called from the kitchen and everyone turned to look at her. “I heard Indra talking on the phone with him one day. I thought your name sounded familiar.”

“You’re the group Indra told us about?” Bellamy turned his attention back to Clarke.

“That surprise you?” Clarke challenged and she could see Bellamy smirk.

“Not at all.”

“So, I guess tonight was just the result of us looking for a quick and easy hit,” Miller started, leaning against the counter. “Looks like we aren’t all that different.”

“I wouldn’t say that—” Bellamy was cut off by a knock at the door and everyone stood, well, except Raven, and Clarke moved and took the hand gun from underneath the couch while Bellamy pulled one out of his pants. They both looked at each other and shrugged. Clarke pressed a finger to her lips and willed everyone to be quiet.

“Babe, I know you’re there, open up.” Roan’s muffled voice came from the other side of the door and Clarke groaned. He must’ve been told about how Bellamy’s group got attacked and assumed it was Clarke. She uncocked her gun and put it in her waistband, grumbling under her breath as she started towards the door. She unlocked the door and poked her head out, not wanting him to go in any further.

“You come over for a quick booty call then just leave and you expect me to let you in this late at night? Seriously?”

Clarke could see Roan’s irritation on his face, but he knew better than to let anything slip. Underneath the irritation, she saw he was panicked. “I know and I’m sorry, babe, can you please let me in to explain?” Roan’s voice was low and near pleading. Clarke knew that if she let him in, then he would be seen by Bellamy and his people.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

Obviously Roan was getting more agitated because he leaned over and whispered in her ear. “I heard, and I want to know what happened.”

Clarke glared at him. “We’re fine. Rae was hit but she’s okay.”

Apparently that was all Roan needed because he pushed through the door, his eyes frantically searching for Raven. He completely looked over Bellamy and didn’t notice anyone in the kitchen, but as soon as his eyes settled on Raven, he raced towards her. Clarke swore and bolted the door.

“Raven.” Roan’s voice was soft as he knelt next to Raven’s cot and moved some hair out of her face.

“Aw, Roan, you look worried about me.” Raven patted his face and Clarke could see Roan’s cheeks turn pink.

“Roan?” Bellamy’s voice was low, near a growl, as he lifted his gun. “Fucking Azgeda.”

“Put the gun down, Bellamy.” Clarke raised her gun and pointed it towards him.

“He’s _Azgeda_.” Bellamy spit the word out like acid.

“He’s an _ally._ ”

“You’re fucking crazy if you think that’s true.”

“Then it looks like I’m crazy.”

By this point, Roan had turned to look at Bellamy, but his hand was still clutching Raven’s. Despite Roan and Clarke’s charade about being together, anyone with eyes could tell that Roan had feelings for Raven. And Clarke knew Raven had feelings for him. It was to a point where Clarke wished that she hadn’t been the one chosen to have the fake relationship with Roan; she could tell it affected Raven.

“You’re Indra’s group.” Roan’s voice was steady.

“What the hell do you know about Indra?” Octavia’s sharp voice came from the kitchen and Roan seemed like he just realized there were more people.

“She and I have come to an understanding.” Roan gave her a crooked smile. “You don’t need to worry about me.”

“This is how you knew the loading zone would be heavily guarded.” Bellamy’s gaze slid over to Clarke. “How did this start?”

“Put your gun down and I’ll tell you.” Clarke arched an eyebrow. Bellamy seemed to weigh his options then slowly lowered his gun and Clarke did the same. “Kane had the idea of getting Nia out of control and putting someone more, agreeable, into that position.”

“And you think that’s her _son_?”

“I never wanted anything to do with my mother’s business.” Roan stood, but he didn’t stop touching Raven. “Over the years she’s become more ruthless and even more obsessed with having power. I want to see her stopped just as much as you do.”

“Do you really expect me to believe you? _Prince Roan._ ”

“Call Indra if you do not believe me, I don’t give a shit what you believe. The deal between me and your bosses is what you’re all helping work towards.”

“He’s been helping us plan our attacks and, along with Kane’s guidance, I think Nia will be out of power soon enough.” Clarke tells everyone, but Bellamy could only stare.

“It’s true, the people are getting upset with her for not protecting their cargo well enough. I know she’s getting ready to flee, it’s just a matter of time.”

“Of course, you don’t know when that’ll be exactly.” Bellamy’s voice is low and, frankly, Clarke’s getting annoyed at the rise in testosterone between him and Roan.

“No one can know for sure what mother is or is not going to do. I didn’t know she would cast me out until she did, and I didn’t know she would take me back if I told her that I was willing to do what needed to be done. Though that was so I could get close to her again and help Kane with his plan.”

“So you deceive your mom and expect us to believe you’re not deceiving Kane or Indra?”

“My mother’s a raging bitch, Kane and Indra on the other hand are quite pleasant.”

“Indra hated you.” Octavia states from the kitchen.

“Yes, she did. But now we’re on the same page to where it’s mutually beneficial for all parties involved.”

“Seriously—”

“Alright!” Clarke held up her hands and all conversing stopped in the room. “Honestly, it’s late, my best friend is bed ridden for the time being, and I feel dirty and I’m hungry. If you two are going to continue arguing about something that could be settled by a call to your boss, then take it somewhere out of my damn apartment or I swear to god I will shoot both of you.”

Clarke stared at Bellamy. She knew that Roan didn’t want an argument to begin with and that he wanted to turn his attention back to Raven, so whether or not this got settled was up to if Bellamy wanted to settle it. She could see his jaw tick as he glared at her, but she didn’t waver. He could either call Indra or settle it, or she would kick him out and let him fume about it on the streets.

“I’ll call Indra.” Octavia hopped off the counter and walked towards the broken window, slipping out onto the fire escape.

“Someone’s going to have to pay for that.” Clarke nodded towards the broken window, and Bellamy raised an eyebrow at her.

 _Oh, here we go_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It begins! I'd love to hear from all of you!! :)
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! So, I've been sitting (on what had become the first chapter) for a while now, and the whole reason why I never posted this was because I thought it was too similar to my other story "What's Life Without A Little Risk," but I've gotten over that thought lol but after posting this I've gotten a lot of good feedback, so I hope y'all continue to enjoy it! :)

Clarke and Bellamy stared at each other for a while, neither of them intending on moving and willing to wait the other person out. Either until one of them gave up or Octavia came in with the all clear from Indra. It probably took a few minutes, but Octavia came back into the apartment tucking her phone in her pocket.

“What the prince says checks out. He’s on our side.” Bellamy’s jaw ticked as he looked at his sister then back at Clarke.

“Does that satisfy you now?” Roan was still next to Raven’s cot, his hand still wrapped protectively around hers. 

Bellamy’s gaze slid to the other man. “No.” Then he turned to his sister. “What else did she say?”

“She said that she’ll call Kane, and that she’ll send someone tomorrow to fix the window.” 

“Seems like a lot of people are paying for your mistakes tonight,” Clarke said sourly, and Bellamy turned his dark eyes towards her. 

“I wasn’t the one who shot your friend.”

“No, but you were the one who orchestrated the attack and the one who busted through my window.”

“I’ll clean it up,” Monty stepped forward. “It’s the least I can do.”

“I’ll help, too.” Miller hopped off the counter and stood beside Monty. “Where’s the broom?”

“I got it.” Jasper bound down the hall and Clarke couldn’t help the way the corners of her mouth turned upward.

“Thank you,” Clarke smiled, and the guys smiled back at her.

“No problem.”

“Hey, Clarke? Can I use the bathroom?” Octavia asked, and Clarke directed her.

“God, I can’t believe this is happening,” Bellamy groaned, and Clarke raised an eyebrow at him.

“Does someone being nice bother you that much?”

“Don’t mind him,” Miller called over his shoulder. “He’s always like that.”

“I am not,” Bellamy snapped.

“Dude,” Monty stopped sweeping and looked at him. “Yes, you are.”

“I didn’t realize it was _that_ late,” Octavia said once she got back into the kitchen. 

“I can grab some blankets if you want me to,” Clarke offered, and that seemed to be the last straw for Bellamy.

“We are not staying the night.” His voice was like thunder in the apartment.

“Come on, Bell! It’s a twenty-five minute drive home and I’m tired,” Octavia groaned, and there was a murmur of agreement from their group. “If she’s offering and Indra says they’re fine, then why not?”

“Because we still don’t know them,” Bellamy hissed.

“Actually, I know Jasper,” Monty chimed in, smiling. “And from how much I’ve talked about him, you do, too.”

“We feel like we know you, too.” Harper smiled at him and, if Clarke was seeing things right, it looked like Monty may have blushed.

“It’s only for one night, Bellamy,” Miller tried. “Do you think you could suck it up for a few hours?” Bellamy turned a murderous glare on his friend, and Clarke is pretty sure she could hear Roan snort behind her.

“Our couch is comfortable, and if you’re up for it we can do some room sharing.”

“Monty is bunking with me,” Jasper said with a grin.

“Octavia, you can sleep in my room, if you want.” Harper shrugged, and Octavia nodded her head.

“Yeah, sounds cool.”

“Miller, you can have my room,” Raven chimed in, and Clarke turned to look at her. “Not like I’ll use it anytime soon.”

The guy looked kind of taken back as he said, “Oh, thanks.” 

Clarke knew that there was no way in hell Wells was going to give up his room, and she couldn’t blame him. She didn’t want to give up her room either, if she was being honest, but she knew that she couldn’t ask her friends to do something that she wasn’t prepared to do herself.

“Bellamy, you and Murphy can have my room,” she offered, and Bellamy raised an eyebrow at her. “I’ll go grab some extra blankets.”

Taking a deep breath, Clarke turned and headed down the hall. She was trying to be nice, really, she was, but Bellamy seemed intent on butting heads with her no matter what she said or did. She offers his people food, and he wants to argue about it. She offers her apartment to them, and he wants to leave. _Honestly, if he’s going to be that much of an asshole, he could sleep on the floor_. Sighing, Clarke hauled some of the extra blankets out of the hall closet and walked back into the living room. 

Harper had brought out their family-sized box of macaroni and was in the process of boiling some water while Miller, Monty, and Jasper disposed of the broken glass and took out some garbage bags to cover the hole, but Bellamy hadn’t moved from his spot. He looked at Clarke when she walked back into the room, but she ignored him. If she could get through the night with only talking to his friends, then that was what she was going to do. 

“So, we also have a shower that all of you are welcome to use and there’s a washing machine, too.”

“You guys have a washing machine?” Octavia’s eyebrows raised towards her hairline. “Can I just move in?”

“O,” Bellamy sighed.

“What? Beats going to the laundromat.”

“You guys have to go to the laundromat?” Raven asked, and Octavia nodded.

“Yeah, but it’s not that bad. Get some weird looks every now and then, though, when we have to get some blood out.”

“We’ve been there, it sucks.” Clarke wrinkled up her nose. 

“Tell me about it.” Octavia rolled her eyes then slipped off the stool in the kitchen. “But if it’s cool I’d like to take a shower. I smell like sweat and gunpowder.”

“Yeah, I’ll grab you some clothes.”

Clarke and Octavia both walked down the hall and Octavia followed her to her bedroom. It wasn’t as tidy as it usually is, mainly because she hasn’t had time to do the load of clothes she was planning on doing when they got back, and the day before that they didn’t do anything but plan. _Which all went to shit anyway_.

“Damn, are these yours?”

“Hm?” Clarke looked up from her dresser drawer to see Octavia holding up one of her charcoal drawings of the skyline. “Oh, yeah.”

“It’s great.”

“You think so?” Clarke grabbed an old t-shirt and a pair of boxers that had paint splatter all over them. “I only ever do sketches. They’re not realistic or anything.”

“Hell yeah, I think so. I don’t have an artistic bone in my body. But, then again, Bellamy doesn’t either. He can tell some good stories though.”

“Your brother tells stories?” Clarke stops her movements and looks at the other girl who grins.

“Believe it or not, he’s not always an asshole. He just doesn’t like new people.”

“Who would have guessed?” Clarke sighed, but it threw Octavia into a fit of laughter. “We have a hard time with accepting new people, too. I just don’t think that Kane and Indra would want their kids fighting when they’re trying to accomplish the same goal.”

“I get that.” Octavia nodded her head. “He just needs to get some sleep, then I’m sure he’ll be better in the morning.”

“Not holding my breath for that one,” Clarke grumbled, and Octavia laughed even more.

After Octavia is set up in the bathroom, Clarke joined everyone else in the kitchen, and decided to pull out their large bag of chicken nuggets and a pan, dumping half of the bag out. The macaroni and cheese was still cooking, but Clarke couldn’t let her guests go hungry while they were there. 

“Griffin.” Clarke turned around at Roan’s voice, and he motioned for her to join him by the broken window. She wasn’t sure how long he was planning on being there, but she wouldn’t have been surprised if he slept in the living room with her.

“Yeah?” She whispered when she got close enough. There was a look on his face that she had only seen a couple of times before, but she knew what it meant.

“I don’t know if it’s wise letting these people stay in your home.”

“You heard Octavia, Roan, if our bosses give the all clear then I don’t see what the problem is.”

“Because I know you, Clarke.” Roan’s voice was as hushed as hers, and he looked at something—or perhaps some _one_ —over her shoulder. “You took months to come around to me, and you really expect me to believe that you’ll be able to handle five?”

“They’re not staying past tonight, Roan. I can handle one night of them being here.”

“Clarke—”

“Roan.” Clarke crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at him. Over the past year that they’ve been working together, she’s come to care for him, just like he’s come to care for her. But it’s not in the way he cares for Raven. Everyone can see that. Aside from her people, Roan is the only other person she would trust with her life. 

“I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“You’re acting as if I’m getting into a relationship,” Clarke laughed. “I’m _fine_. Go annoy Raven with your sappiness.” Clarke pushed him towards her friend’s cot, and he turned around to look at her.

“I’m sleeping on the couch tonight.”

“Yeah,” Clarke nodded. “I know.”

After Octavia emerged from the shower, there was a line of people waiting to use it. Miller went next, then Monty, then Murphy. Despite the amount of coaxing that Octavia did on Bellamy, he still shrugged her off and told her that he’d shower when they got back home the next day. It wasn’t until Clarke said that if he didn’t shower then he’d have to change her sheets before he left, which, she would have changed them anyway, that he gave in and cursed all the way to the bathroom. Clarke really wanted to believe Octavia when she said that her brother wasn’t always an asshole, but...she hadn’t seen _anything_ to suggest otherwise.

After everyone was fed and cleaned, Clarke and her friends showed them to their rooms. With Clarke telling Bellamy and Murphy that if they touched anything in her room other than her bed then she would cut off their hands. Surprisingly, she didn’t get a retort out of that.

Just as Clarke was about to walk into Wells’ room, her phone began to go off. When she looked, Kane’s pseud was staring back at her on the screen. Clarke threw her pillow and blanket into the room then held up her phone and turned around, heading towards her balcony. It was a warm night, and it was like Clarke could feel the air sticking to her skin as she sat down on the concrete and slid her legs through the bars.

“Hey, boss.”

“Clarke,” the older man's voice sounded tired. “Why didn’t you tell me that Raven was hit?” 

“We didn’t exactly have time to sit down and chat,” Clarke said dryly. “Rae was losing a lot of blood.”

“You’re not a doctor, Clarke.” She could hear Kane sigh and the sound of his leather office chair squeaking. “You could have done more harm than good.”

“And she could have died if I hadn’t done something,” Clarke snapped. It was true, Clarke could have hurt her friend more than she wanted, but she got the bullet out and stitched her up and she was coherent. She shivered at the thought of what would have happened if she had tried to find another way. It would have taken too long.

“Indra has offered for one of her doctor’s to come check on Raven tomorrow. And something else about a glass repair company?” 

Clarke snorted. “Fucking asshole decided to bust down our sliding door rather than be a normal person and knock.”

Kane yawned. “I’ll want a detailed report from you tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.” _As usual._

“And Indra and I expect you and Bellamy to cooperate from here on out. We’d like the two of you to plan your attacks together.” 

_What?_ “What?” Clarke stared at a light in the distance. “I’m sorry, I think I misheard you.”

“No, you didn’t.” If Clarke wasn’t mistaken, she could hear a smile in Kane’s voice. “You and Bellamy are to work together from now on seeing as our belief that we could conduct raids independently of one another doesn’t apply when our kids decide to raid on their own.” 

“But you’ve given us the freedom to do the raids as we see fit.”

“As long as you tell me about them, which you didn’t.” 

_He’s got a point_. Clarke looked down at her shorts and picked at the hem. “We usually do.”

“This isn’t to punish you, Clarke. You’re smart, and from Indra has told me so is Bellamy. I believe that the two of you working together could be exactly what we need to bring the Azgeda empire down once and for all.”

“I can bring them down without his help,” Clarke gritted out. “You don’t know him, Kane! He’s arrogant and self-righteous and all around a total asshole. I don’t want to work with him.”

“I’m afraid the decision has already been made.” Kane sounded slightly apologetic. “If you feel so strongly about him, then think of it this way: the faster the two of you can plan this, then the faster you won’t have to speak to each other again.” 

Clarke thought about his words for a moment. They weren’t far off from their goal, but with the added securities, their last leg of their operation might be harder than they expected. “Are the meetings going to be joint meetings now, too?” 

“I think we can give the two of you some time apart.” Clarke could definitely hear the smile in Kane’s voice now, and she sighed. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Good night, Kane.”

Clarke threw her phone into her lap and sighed, looking out at the city. She knew Kane was right. Two people in charge of planning the attacks would probably go a lot smoother, and there would be more people. But she _really_ did not want to work with Bellamy. But, the sooner this was over, then the sooner he would be out of her life and she and her friends could move on.

Clarke ran a hand over her face then stood up, stretching. It was late and they were going to have a very long day tomorrow. She needed sleep. When she walked back inside, Roan was already snoring softly on the couch and Raven was still in the cot with her eyes closed. Clarke walked over to her friend and knelt down beside her, taking her hand.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep?” Raven mumbled, and Clarke smiled a little.

“What’s sleep?” 

“What did Kane have to say?” 

“That Indra is sending doctors over tomorrow along with people to repair the window.”

“And?”

“And he wants a full report.”

Raven opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow. “ _And?”_

“ _And_ he wants us to work with Bellamy and his people,” Clarke grumbled.

“Thought so, from the way you were growling out there.” 

“I wasn’t growling.”

“Well, it sounded like it.” Raven took a deep breath and her eyes fluttered closed. “At least he’s hot. It might help you get through the torture of having to be in a confined space while planning.” Eyes still closed, Raven smirked.

“Don’t let your boyfriend hear that,” Clarke teased.

Raven opened her eyes slightly, and even though she was tired, Clarke could still see the fire behind her eyes. “You didn’t deny it.” 

“You’re delirious, Rae. I’ll let you get some rest.”

“I didn’t say this, but, you know…”

“Yeah, I know.” Clarke stood and placed a kiss to Raven’s head. “Tomorrow you’re getting a sponge bath. You smell.” 

“Look who’s talking,” the other girl grumbled, but Clarke ignored her as she made her way to Wells’ room. 

She could barely see his outline under the covers, but after spending their lives together, Clarke knew well enough that Wells slept on the right side of the bed. So, she tiptoed her way to the left side and climbed into the bed, too. After everything that happened, her body sighed in relief. 

“Kane is making us work with them now, isn’t he?” Wells asked, his voice rough from sleep.

“Yep.”

“Great.” The bed rocked as Wells repositioned himself, and Clarke stretched again as she turned onto her side. 

_Yeah. Great._

* * *

As Bellamy closed the door behind him he swore.

“What the fuck is her problem?”

Murphy didn’t look at him as he pulled the blankets on the bed back. “You mean her just being courteous?” 

“Don’t tell me you’re on her side, too.” Bellamy groaned.

“I’m not on her side. I’m just lucky she didn’t shoot me.”

“If you think you’re sleeping in that bed, I’ll shoot you.”

“Hey, your anger is with the girl down the hall. Don’t turn that shit on me.” Murphy stopped what he was doing and looked up. “You busted through her window, which pissed her off, and I shot her friend, which pissed her off. We’re lucky we’re even here.” 

“I don’t _want_ to be here. I don’t trust her.”

“And you think she trusts us?”

“I never said that.” 

“Alright, you’re acting like a child.”

“Oh, so suddenly you’re the adult here? John Murphy, Court Jester, is telling me I’m acting like a child?”

“You know what, you can stay up and brood, but I’m going to sleep.” Murphy kicked off his shoes and slid into the bed. 

Bellamy rolled his eyes then turned and walked out the room, heading towards the balcony. It wasn’t hot in the living room, but he could tell that the broken window didn’t help the AC situation. The girl who was shot, Raven, seemed to be asleep on the cot, and Roan Azgeda was asleep on the couch. 

Just as his hand came to rest on the handle, he could hear Clarke talking on the other side of the glass. “We usually do.” Her voice was low, and sounded a little sad. But then: “I can bring them down without his help. You don’t know him, Kane! He’s arrogant and self-righteous and all around a total asshole. I don’t want to work with him.”

_At least that’s something we can agree on._ “Are the meetings going to be joint meetings now, too?” She asked. _God, I hope not._ “Good night, Kane.” 

Bellamy moved from the sliding door and made his way towards the kitchen, hoping that Clarke wouldn’t decide to get a late night snack and find him. Indra hadn’t text him anything, but he assumed that she would fill him in the next time she saw him. Indra wasn’t one to talk on the phone unless she needed to. 

The sliding door opened and Clarke walked back inside, heading straight to Raven. They were talking quietly, but since everything was quiet in the house, aside from Azgeda’s snoring, he could hear it all. 

“Shouldn’t you be asleep?” Raven mumbled.

“What’s sleep?” 

“What did Kane have to say?” 

“That Indra is sending doctors over tomorrow along with people to repair the window.”

“And?”

“And he wants a full report.”

“ _And?”_ Raven pressed.

“ _And_ he wants us to work with Bellamy and his people,” Clarke grumbled.

“Thought so, from the way you were growling out there.” 

“I wasn’t growling.”

“Well, it sounded like it.” There was a pause, and then: “At least he’s hot. It might help you get through the torture of having to be in a confined space while planning.”

“Don’t let your boyfriend hear that,” Clarke said. _Is Roan supposed to be her boyfriend? He definitely acted like it...but then why do him and Clarke have a charade going on?_

“You didn’t deny it.” _She’s right. She didn’t._

“You’re delirious, Rae. I’ll let you get some rest.” Clarke said, but she still didn’t deny it.

“I didn’t say this, but, you know…”

“Yeah, I know.” Clarke stood and placed a kiss to Raven’s head. “Tomorrow you’re getting a sponge bath. You smell.” 

“Look who’s talking,” the other girl grumbled, and then Clarke left the living room and disappeared down the dark hallway. 

Bellamy sat in the kitchen for a while after that. As he said, at least he and Clarke could agree on one thing, and that was the fact that they didn’t want to work together. She was smart, he could see that much, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to have to plan out the rest of their attacks together. The attack that she planned against Nia the last time was brutal, and it knocked the lead of the mafia on her ass, but Bellamy has had his share of harsh attacks, too. He just didn’t know that Clarke was a girl when he heard about them.

Raven’s comment about him being attractive wormed its way into his mind while he sat in the dark, and Bellamy smirked. _She didn’t deny it_. Now, Bellamy knew he would have to be stupid to not realize that Clarke was attractive, too, but it wasn’t something he was going to let himself get caught up in. He had more important things that he had to think about. Bellamy sighed and ran his hand through his hair. _I need to sleep_.

He shuffled back to the bedroom—Clarke’s bedroom—and threw himself onto the bed. Thankfully, Murphy didn’t decide to take up all of it. His muscles ached and his head felt like it had an ax trying to wedge it open, but Bellamy closed his eyes to try and get rid of some of it. He was glad that none of his people got hurt, aside from a few scrapes, but he would have been lying if he said that he didn’t feel bad about what happened to Raven. To Clarke and her people. He didn’t know how he would have felt if he was in her shoes, well, other than being pissed. She had a right to be pissed. Bellamy just didn’t want her pissed with him.

Sighing, Bellamy turned over onto his stomach, his joints popping as he went, and buried his face into the pillow. It smelled like laundry detergent and had the faint scent of green apple shampoo. He dreamed that night, but it was nothing he could remember once he woke up. Though, when he looked at Clarke the next morning, he saw her a little differently than the night before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo...thoughts? Comments? Concerns? I love hearing back from all of you! :)
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx
> 
> P.S. Me coming back to this story and trying to write it in the past tense is really a struggle so if I end up switching to present then I'm sorry lol


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I’m sorry this chapter is late. My writing schedule got blown out the window, but I’ll try and update when I can! I hope you can stick with me :)

When Clarke woke up the next morning, she ran her hand over her face and then rolled over and groaned into the pillow. She didn’t want to work with Bellamy. She didn’t want Bellamy to stay in her apartment longer than she wanted him to either. She groaned some more as she rolled out of bed, which caused Wells to mumble something at her even though he was still asleep.

She made her way out of the room and down the hall, shuffling into the kitchen as quietly as she could so she didn’t wake up Raven or Roan. Despite having not gone to sleep until late, she was still up before the sun, and she knew that no matter how much she tried to will herself to go back to sleep, it wasn’t going to happen. So, her solution was coffee. 

She loaded the coffee maker as best she could with the little light that she had, and as soon as the smell of coffee began to drift throughout the kitchen, she could feel herself begin to wake up more. After she poured herself a cup, she tiptoed out to her balcony, frowning at the broken window as she went, then leaned against the railing. 

The mornings were always cooler before the city woke up and the sun rose, which was something she enjoyed. She didn’t think about anything other than the changing colors of the sky, and made a mental note to try her hand at recreating them. But it wasn’t long until the remaining sliding door opened and someone stepped out with her. 

“Mind if I join you?”

Clarke fought her eye roll. “Now you decide to be nice?”

Bellamy stood beside her and she could see him cross his arms over his chest as he looked out at the city below them. “I have my moments.”

“Octavia said you did, but I’m not very inclined to believe her.”

Bellamy said nothing, and Clarke was caught between wanting to down as much as her coffee as she could so she could go inside and not wanting to ruin her morning ritual. 

“This is a better view than the one we have.”

Clarke bit the inside of her cheek. Small talk wasn’t really her strong suit, but if she and Bellamy could at least be civil towards each other, then maybe that meant working together wouldn’t be like pulling teeth. 

“Kane tried getting us to move, but we didn’t want to. Though, now, I think we might need to.”

“Kane doesn’t own this place?”

Clarke shook her head. She thought about Shaw and how they should get his name off the paperwork as soon as they could. He didn’t know about what they were doing, and since Bellamy and his team busted through the window, she didn’t want anyone else finding them. 

“Where do y’all stay?”

Bellamy shifted, and it was like Clarke could hear the gears turning in his head. But just when she thought he wasn’t going to answer: “On the northern side of the city. An older house.” He leaned against the railing with her. “Not the prettiest thing.”

“Can you ask Indra for a washer and dryer?”

Bellamy looked at her, and she was surprised to see what looked like a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. “Doesn’t have a hookup.”

“Wow. It is old,” Clarke laughed lightly. “Well, if any of you ever decide that you don’t want to go to the laundromat, then feel free to use ours.”

She wasn’t looking at him, but she could see him studying her out of the corner of her eye. “Thank you.” 

Clarke nearly choked on her coffee hearing him say that, so she just nodded her head in acknowledgment. _He actually said thank you._ The two of them sat outside for a little while longer in silence and Clarke had to admit, it wasn’t _terrible_. Maybe the two of them could work together if things kept going like that.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” Clarke turned to look at him.

“What’s the deal with the charade between you and Azgeda?”

Clarke laughed. She wasn’t exactly surprised that he asked that question, but she didn’t think that that was what he was going to ask. “It was Kane’s idea,” she explained. “Thought that if anyone questioned why Roan was going to someone’s house, then we could just say that we’re dating. But, I’m sure you’ve seen that we don’t actually have feelings for each other like that. He has feelings for—”

“Raven.” Bellamy finished, and Clarke nodded.

“Yeah. I feel bad, but it’s not something we can change just yet.” She shrugged. “But, when it’s over, we’ll have a huge breakup, and I’ll tell him how he broke my heart and then our love story will be at an end.” She smirked at him, and that time he actually did smile at her. _Smiling looks good on him_.

“I’m sure he’ll be devastated.”

“Oh, it’ll take a long time to recover, I’m sure. I’m quite a catch,” Clarke teased, and Bellamy smiled even more.

“Talking about our undying love, babe?” Roan’s voice came from behind them and Clarke turned around, leaning back against the railing, smiling at him.

“Always.” Roan smirked at her and crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes drifted from Clarke to Bellamy, and she could feel Bellamy shift to stand straighter beside her, but Roan looked back at Clarke.

“Breakfast?”

“Are you asking if I want breakfast or asking me if I’m going to make it?” Clarke raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not stupid enough to ask you to cook for me,” Roan said, and then, “you’re not that good of a girlfriend.”

Clarke reached out and smacked his arm. “Asshole.”

Roan laughed, and Clarke found herself smiling. “I’ll start cooking as soon as everyone else wakes up.”

“Perfect.” Clarke pushed off the railing and then stretched. “I’m getting more coffee.”

“Care to get me a cup?” Roan asked.

Clarke turned around and arched an eyebrow. “I’m not that good of a girlfriend.”

Bellamy snorted, then walked past her and into the house, and Roan’s eyes followed him before he turned towards Clarke and raised an eyebrow back at her. She rolled her eyes and followed Bellamy’s path into the house, flipping Roan off as she went. 

Once she stepped into the living room, her eyes immediately found Raven lying on her cot, and what she saw made her stomach drop. Her friend was pale, and her breathing was rapid, and Clarke nearly tripped over herself trying to reach her. 

“Raven?” She set her cup on the ground beside her as she kneeled next to the cot, and placed her hand on Raven’s forehead. It was burning. “Raven, hey.” Her friend didn’t stir, and Clarke moved to feel her pulse. It was rapid, just like her breathing, and her stomach dropped even more. “Come on, Rae.” Clarke moved, and she was aware of Bellamy coming to stand on the other side of the cot.

“What’s wrong?”

“She’s not responding. Roan!” The man came in through the door, and Clarke turned to look at him. “Was she doing this when you came outside?”

“Not that I saw.”

“Fuck.”

“What do we need to do?” Roan was beside her in an instant. 

“I need to check her wound.” Her eyes found Bellamy. “I don’t know when that doctor is supposed to get here—”

“I’ll call Indra.” Bellamy pulled his phone from his back pocket quickly, and the action made Clarke want to stare at him, but she couldn’t think about that now.

“What do I do?” Roan asked, and Clarke glanced at him. 

“When I say so, you’re going to have to turn her on to her side. It’s not going to be pretty.” Roan said nothing as he moved to the other side of the cot, and Clarke went to grab a rag from the kitchen, handing it to him. “She’s going to scream.”

Roan gave her a quick nod, and Clarke tried to push everything out of her mind. A doctor was going to come, and they were going to help Raven better than what Clarke could do. She counted quickly, and when the two of them turned Raven over, the other girl let out a scream that would haunt Clarke in her sleep.

  
  
  


Indra’s doctor arrived shortly after, and entered a room where everyone looked like they had their asses handed to them the night before. And they had. There were dark circles under everyone’s eyes, and many of them kept sending worried glances towards Raven who was coherent, but had lost a lot of blood. Her stitches opened up during the night, and Clarke cursed herself for not checking them better. 

Roan paced off to the side of the room, and Bellamy seemed to be brooding in the opposite corner as he watched the doctor work. But that wasn’t something Clarke wanted to focus on. She gave the doctor space to work, and when he was done, he motioned for Clarke to follow him into the kitchen.

“How is she?” She asked, as soon as they were out of earshot of everyone else. Nyko crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her. With the tattoos on his face, no one would expect him to be a doctor, but Clarke knew not to judge people by their appearances.

“She’s doing well, considering the circumstances.”

“Will she recover?”

“From what I can see now, she’ll never fully recover from her injury, but it was a terrible one to begin with.” Nyko’s eyes were solemn, and Clarke’s heart sank.

“How bad did I make everything?” 

“Why would you assume you’ve made things worse?” 

“I’m not trained.”

“And yet, if it weren’t for you she would not be here right now.”

“But that isn’t saying I didn’t make her condition worse,” Clarke countered.

“No, it isn’t.” Clarke’s eyes drifted to the floor as she toed at the wood. “But, I will say that given the situation, you did the best you could.” Nyko’s hand came out and rested on her shoulder. “You should be proud of what you did. There are not many who could perform a task like that in a kitchen with little training after being shot at.”

_It’s my fault she’s on the cot in the first place_. Clarke looked up at the man and nodded. “Thank you for coming out to check on her.”

“You’re welcome. If it’s alright with you, I’d like to continue to check in on her and see her progress.”

“Please.” Clarke nodded her head.

“Make sure she stays bedridden, and check her stitches every few hours, and change the bandages. If they come undone, I trust you to stitch her back up yourself, but if she starts bleeding again, then call me. Bellamy has my number.”

“I will. Thank you again, Nyko.”

The man inclined his head then looked somewhere over Clarke’s shoulder and nodded before turning and walking out of the door. Clarke ran her hands through her hair and willed herself to hold everything together. She couldn’t afford to break down, especially not with Bellamy seeming to track her every move. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly then started back towards the living room. Everyone was crowded around Raven’s cot, and the sound of her friends laughing made her smile, but also sent a pain spearing through her chest. 

Instead of joining them, Clarke headed for the balcony, stopping to reach above the door frame for something she stashed there, then walked out outside. The sun was higher now, and as she looked down at the city, she was envious. Everyone down there was going about their lives as normal, when Clarke felt as if hers was close to falling apart around her.

She took a cigarette out of the pack and put it in her mouth, lighting the end of it. A habit she’s tried to break, but every now and then she can’t help it. She took a long drag and blew it out slowly. Her lungs weren’t exactly happy, but she didn’t care about that. 

When she was about halfway through her cigarette and wondering if she should toss the rest, someone stepped out onto the balcony with her. Somehow, she knew it was Bellamy before he even spoke. 

“You smoke?”

“Trying to quit.” She blew out another cloud of smoke. “Want one?” She held out the pack and Bellamy took one, taking his own lighter out of his pocket. 

“O keeps trying to get me to quit.”

“Don’t want to?”

Bellamy shrugged. “Not my best choice.”

_And this isn’t my worst._ “I started smoking when I was fourteen. A way to get back at my doctor mother, or so I thought,” Clarke admitted.

“When you were younger, why do you think it didn’t work?”

“It worked, she wasn’t happy.” Clarke shook her head. “But...nevermind. Now, it just helps with the stress.” Bellamy was silent, and he leaned against the railing with her. She wanted to quit, but sometimes… 

“You can’t blame yourself for what happened.” Clarke took a puff then looked at him. 

“I’m the _reason_ why it happened.” Bellamy didn‘t say anything. “I'm the one who cleared the attack, and I’m the one who didn’t tell Kane.”

“But you couldn’t have known.”

Clarke turned away and looked back at the city. “No, I couldn’t have.” Clarke took the cigarette out of her mouth and put it out on the railing, then threw her half-empty pack to Bellamy. “That bullet was meant for me, and Raven jumped in front of it to protect me. _That_ I do know.” 

She could see him watching her, and when she turned to head back into the apartment his eyes felt like they were searing a hole into her back, but she ignored him. He was not her friend, and she didn’t need to have a therapy session. 

  
  


Bellamy watched Clarke disappear back into the apartment, and when she was out of sight, he turned to lean against the railing again. He doesn’t know what possessed him to follow her out onto the balcony to begin with. Maybe it was the look on her face when the doctor was examining Raven, or the way she avoided the crowd of people and slipped off before anyone could see her with guilt weighing down on her shoulders. Or, just maybe, he knew what it felt like to have the weight of what feels like the world on his shoulders and he wanted to help her. Help her _how_ , he has no idea. And he can’t exactly relate to how she feels knowing that her friend threw herself in front of a bullet for her.

He tucked the pack of cigarettes into his back pocket and pulled his shirt over it. If Octavia saw them, that would be another conversation he didn’t want to have. When he stepped back into the living room, everyone was still spread out, and they all looked a lot more comfortable than they had the night before. Bellamy stayed to the back of the room and looked at his people. 

Octavia laughed at something Harper said, and the corners of Bellamy’s mouth turned upwards. He would take a bullet for his little sister without question. And Miller, and Monty...Murphy was debatable. But, even for his faults, Bellamy would still take a bullet for him, too. He wanted to think that his people would risk their lives for him as he would, but thinking and saying it and it actually happening are very different. Bellamy looked over at Raven, and she was smiling up at Clarke who was laughing. 

He looked at Jasper, and Harper, then to Wells who was sitting off to the side. He didn’t know what the deal was between Clarke and Wells, or how Clarke came to find anyone in her group, especially Jasper since he was told stories by Monty. Bellamy walked towards Murphy and tapped him on the shoulder, then motioned for the other guy to follow him outside. He could hear Murphy huff, but he didn’t acknowledge it.

“What?” Murphy asked when they were both on the balcony, and Bellamy stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Did Raven jump in front of Clarke when you fired?”

He could see Murphy’s eyes widen a fraction, and then he put his hands in his pockets, too. “Yeah. She did.”

“What do you remember?” 

Murphy raised an eyebrow. “What do I remember? It happened last night, not five years ago.”

“Alright, so tell me what you remember.” Bellamy crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his friend.

Murphy sighed. “I was aiming towards one of Azgeda’s men. Clarke and her team moved in front of me—”

“Clarke and her team?” Bellamy questioned, and Murphy looked at him, then looked away.

“Clarke moved into my line of sight as I pulled the trigger, I couldn’t stop it.”

“And then?”

“And then I think we know what happened. Raven’s the one with a gunshot wound in her back and Clarke still has her head.” Bellamy has to force himself to not physically react to Murphy’s comment, but Murphy knows him well enough at this point to see that. 

“But you were aiming for the Azgeda member and not them, right?” Bellamy lowered his voice.

“I had no reason to aim for them. They were trying to get out of there.” 

Bellamy nodded his head then reached into his back pocket and threw Murphy the half-empty pack of cigarettes. “Thank you.”

Murphy didn’t say anything, only mock saluted Bellamy with the pack and then pulled a lighter out of his pocket. Bellamy went back inside and took a seat at the kitchen island. He still didn’t know anything about these people, but he began to think that maybe having to work with them may not be as terrible as he thought it’d be. There was still time for him to change his mind, though. 

“Trying to get a read on us?” A voice came from behind him, and Bellamy turned, face to face with Wells.

“It’s what you’re trying to do.”

“Seeing as it’s our house, we’re entitled to.” Wells opened the fridge and pulled out a jug of orange juice. He looked up and at something in the living room, then back to Bellamy. “I’m only going to say this once. Just because we have to start working together doesn’t mean we have to be friends. And Clarke doesn’t need someone trying to get into her head.”

Bellamy leaned back in his chair and smirked. “What? Afraid I’ll ruin whatever plan you have to win her over?” 

Wells’ eyes darkened. “Clarke has been through too much to have someone like you worm your way into her life.”

“Someone like me?”

“An arrogant asshole who can’t see past his own ego,” Wells lowered his voice. “Clarke is smart, and kind. She wants to make this work, but her outlook can cloud her judgement.”

“You’re not convincing me that you don’t have feelings for her.”

“I love Clarke,” Wells admitted, “she’s my best friend. But because we’ve spent our entire lives together, I know when she starts to get ideas.”

“She’s getting ideas about me?” Bellamy’s smirk widened at the sight of Wells getting angry.

“If you do anything to hurt her, I will end you.”

“Have you told her you love her?” 

This time, Wells smirked. “Hey, Clarke?” He called, and she turned to look at them.

“Yeah?”

“Love you.” 

She smiled, a bright smile that made Bellamy’s heart race a little more. “Love you, too, Jaha.”

“What about me?” Jasper asked, and Clarke laughed.

“Love you, too, Goggles.” She reached over and ruffled his hair and Jasper smacked her hand away. Bellamy turned back to Wells. 

“Seems like you have competition.” Wells shook his head, and turned to put the orange juice away. “She’s hot. Can’t say I blame either of you.” 

When Wells turned back to Bellamy, he grinned. “She would eat you alive.” 

Bellamy watched Wells walk over to an empty spot on the floor between Clarke and Raven, and Clarke leaned towards him, then Wells grinned and shrugged. Bellamy didn’t know what that was about. But before he could think about it too much, his phone started vibrating and he pulled it out of his pocket.

“Indra,” he said, getting up from his seat and starting towards the hall.

“Bellamy. I’m assuming you’re still at Clarke’s?” 

“Yes, ma’am. Nyko just left, so I’m going to get everyone home soon.”

“The glass repairmen are going to be at her apartment soon, and I’d like for you to be there to pay them.”

“But—”

“No _buts_ , Bellamy. You broke her window so it’s only right that you pay for it.” 

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good.” Bellamy could hear Indra sigh on the other end of the line. “I’ve talked to Kane, and I’m sure he’ll talk to Clarke, and for now we’re going to hold off on any more raids for the next few weeks. He wants to dedicate time to helping raven and I told him that we will do what we can to help.” 

Bellamy bit back his sigh. “Yes, ma’am.”

“And, Bellamy?”

“Yes?”

“Be nice, and try not to piss Clarke off.”

“What makes you think I’d do that?” 

“Because I know you.” If he didn’t know better, he would’ve said that Indra was smirking. 

“I’ll be in touch.”

“I expect an update when you get home.”

“Yes, ma’am.” 

When Bellamy put his phone back into his pocket and emerged from the hallway, Clarke was looking at him. Her eyebrows were furrowed together, and her head was tilted to the side like she was trying to figure out a puzzle, but then someone got her attention and she turned away from him. 

_She’s trying to get a read on me._ Bellamy smirked at the thought and walked into the living room. If everyone was going to insist on being around each other, then he’d be better off learning who these people are from being closer to them. At least, that’s what he told himself. Indra did tell him to play nice. So, that’s what he was going to do. Or, what he was going to try to do at least. No promises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He’s going to try. That’s something, right? 
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit I'm back! I know I dropped off the face of the earth with this fic, but I'll try and start on chapter 5 soon!!

For the next two months, no raids happen even though Roan keeps them informed with what his mother is doing, so Clarke dedicates a lot of her time to Raven. As does everyone else. Monty and Octavia show up a lot, as does Miller, but even Murphy shows up more than Bellamy. It’s not that Clarke exactly  _ expected _ him to show up, but considering they’re supposed to be leading everyone together, she figured he would show up more than four times. And for longer than twenty minutes at that. 

It’s when she’s trying to clean up the kitchen while everyone else is out shopping and Raven is sleeping in her room when there was a knock at the door. Clarke stopped sweeping, pulling one of her earbuds out and reaching under the counter to grab one of the guns she kept there. She made her way towards the door, tucking the gun in the waistband of her jeans. As she looked through the peephole, she saw black, curly hair which was all she needed to see before she opened the door.

“What are you doing here?” She asked once the door was open, and Bellamy raised an eyebrow at her.

“Do you greet everyone like that, or just me?”

Clarke rolled her eyes and left the door open, moving back to the broom. “Anyone who shows up unannounced.”

Bellamy humed a little but Clarke didn’t acknowledge it, opting to just go back to sweeping. “Alone?”

“Everyone else is out getting things, Raven is asleep in her room.”

“So, no Azgeda?” Bellamy leaned against the counter, and Clarke fought back a huff.

“Did you come here for a reason or just to annoy me?”

“I didn’t realize asking you questions was annoying.”

“It’s not—” She took a deep breath then let it out slowly. “Why’d you come here?”

Bellamy looked at her for a while, and it’s like Clarke could see him going through all of the possible responses he could give her, before finally: “I thought it would be good for our people to spend some time together tonight. Have dinner or something.”

“Have dinner?” Clarke echoed, her eyebrows arched. “Seriously?”

“In order to work together we need to know each other. I don’t put my life in the hands of someone I don’t trust.”

“If you would have joined your friends with coming over more then you would already know us, so the fact that you’re here now makes me believe that the only reason  _ why _ you are is because Indra told you to be.”

Bellamy’s lips thinned. “And?”

Clarke looked at him for a beat, doing her best to calm down the annoyance that’s beginning to build inside of her. “Okay,” she nodded her head, “but you’re going to help me cook.”

“Of course.” Bellamy smiled at her, but it didn’t do anything to make her feel better.

Clarke finished sweeping while Bellamy pulled the door to the fridge open, and she tried to ignore him. Recently, they’ve been eating anything that Raven feels like eating, which Clarke isn't complaining about, but she would be lying if she said she was jumping at the idea of getting to cook with Bellamy. 

_ Hopefully everyone else comes back and they can take over. _

After she dumped the dustpan, Clarke washed her hands then made her way down the hall and towards Raven’s room. Even though her friend was feeling better, she wasn't able to move much, and probably wouldn’t be able to for a few more weeks, which Raven definitely wasn't happy about.

Clarke knocked softly on the door and then opened it as quietly as she could before slipping inside. Raven was propped up on her bed with her computer in her lap and the T.V. playing  _ Mythbusters _ in the background. She didn’t look up as Clarke closed the door, but kept glaring at her computer screen.

“Who was at the door?”

“Bellamy,” Clarke said with a sigh and laid down on the side of the bed next to her friend. “He wants all of us to have dinner together.”

_ That _ got Raven’s attention, and her friend looked up from the computer, raising an eyebrow at her. “He what?”

“It seems like Indra wants us to spend more time together, and Bellamy said that he wants to know the people he’s supposed to trust even though he’s the one that hasn’t been coming around and—”

“Frustrated, Griffin?” Raven smirked and Clarke rolled her eyes.

“I’m  _ annoyed _ that he thinks he can come in here and have us do whatever he wants.”

“Clarke, even if Indra told him to come here or not, he’s still  _ here _ which means something, right? You’re going to have to work with him whether you like it or not and you know if Wells were here then he’d tell you the same thing.”

“I’m not the only one who doesn’t want to work with him,” Clarke grumbled, and Raven let out a snort. “Okay, what do you want for dinner?”

“Surprise me.”

“You got it, babe.” Clarke smiled at her friend then stretched. “Hopefully he doesn’t burn down the kitchen.”

“I could say the same about you.”

Clarke rolled her eyes before walking out of the door and back out into the hallway. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and pulled up her message thread with the rest of the house and sent out a text saying that they would be having dinner with Bellamy and the rest of his people before tucking it away. Bellamy had some potatoes already laid out on the counter with a pan and olive oil beside them, some fish, and a couple cans of vegetables while he looked through their spice cabinet.

With the amount of people that they were going to have to feed, it would have probably been easier for them to just order food from somewhere and have it delivered, but Bellamy seemed intent on actually cooking.

“Find what you’re looking for?” Clarke asked as she leaned onto the counter. 

“Yeah, I did.” Bellamy turned around with his arms filled with different spice jars and set them all down on the counter. “Do you know how to make baked potatoes?”

Clarke raised an eyebrow at him. “How can you be this much of an asshole in someone else’s house? Yes, I know how to make baked potatoes,” she huffed, then made her way to the other side of the counter and pulled the potatoes towards so she could begin washing them off.

“Make sure to scrub them thoroughly,” Bellamy said over her shoulder, and Clarke fought the urge to hit him. 

“Do you micromanage everyone who tries to cook?” 

She turned to look at him, but she didn’t expect him to be  _ right there _ . He was close enough to where she could make out the individual freckles on his face, the way there was stubble beginning to form on his jaw. Even though she's not exactly happy that he hasn’t tried to get to know them for the past two months, him not showing up wasn’t exactly the worst thing ever.

“Or completely invade their personal space?” She said softer than she expected.

Bellamy blinked at her a couple of times as his jaw clenched and then he looked away, turning back to the fish. “Sorry. No one in my group really knows how to cook, but Murphy is getting better. I’m just used to walking them through it.” 

Clarke deflated a little at that and she watched him as he began tearing open the plastic protector around the fish, but he didn’t look at her. 

“No, I get it. Wells can’t really cook either, and Jasper is usually high so we don’t let him around the stove. Harper and Raven are getting better, but…” she shrugs. “We make it work.” 

“Yeah, us, too.”

The two of them continued to work in silence with Clarke spreading the olive oil over the newly washed potatoes and preheating the oven, and Bellamy focused on the fish. Clarke tried not to watch him too much, but she hasn’t seen him do much of anything except sit in a corner and brood. Once the potatoes were put in the oven, Clarke pulled out her phone and checked her messages. There was an independent one from Wells asking her not to get blood anywhere if a fight broke out, and Clarke just rolled her eyes and tucked the phone away again. 

Even though Raven was in the house with her, it still felt like it was just her and Bellamy. And it made her uneasy. All of the other times he was there the two of them weren’t alone, they were around everyone else and Bellamy usually stayed off on his own. She knew the tactic, he was trying to figure out how they operated, but all he had to do was ask. 

Kane made it a point to tell her that they would  _ have _ to start planning something, the finishing move against the Azgeda Mafia. This couldn’t last forever and Kane was the one advocating for them taking time off to help Raven, but this was a job. 

Clarke reached down and opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a bottle of rye whiskey, catching Bellamy’s eye. He looked at her, his eyebrow arching as his eyes found the bottle in her hand, and Clarke shrugged. If the two of them were going to be spending the night around each other then the two of them were going to have to open up some sort of dialogue.

She grabbed two glasses out of the cabinet and set them on the counter, and Bellamy covered the fish in aluminum foil before pushing it away from the edge of the counter. He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, and Clarke could feel his eyes staring into her back as she poured the drinks.

“Watching to see if I’ll poison you?” She asked, calling over her shoulder, and it’s like she could  _ hear _ Bellamy smirk.

“Just being cautious.”

Clarke corked the bottle again then turned and handed Bellamy his glass, leaning against the counter across from him.  _ He looks good. Unfortunately. _ That was definitely one thing Clarke didn’t exactly have a problem with, but it wasn’t something she wanted to dwell on. His dark blue shirt is tight,  _ like the tan one he wore the last time, and the gray one, and the white one... _ Clarke looked away from him and towards the window that had been replaced the day after he broke in, then back to him.

“Look,” she began slowly, “if we’re going to work together then we’re going to have to actually talk to each other. And we definitely can’t keep arguing because it gets us nowhere except closer to pulling our guns on each other.” A thought popped into her mind then, and she glanced towards the door. “Put your guns over there.”

“What?” 

“You heard me. Leave your guns at the door.”

Bellamy blinked at her then, and Clarke drew herself up to her full height. “You’re joking?”

“No, I’m not.” Clarke tilted her head back and downed her drink, then fought against the grimace that tried to force its way onto her face as she pulled the gun from the back of her waistband and placed it on top of the shelf by the front door. “Our truce.”

Bellamy eyed her as he finished off his drink, too, and then pulled his gun from his side and placed it next to hers. “What about the guns in the rest of the apartment?”

“What about them?” Clarke raised an eyebrow at him, but Bellamy didn’t say anything as he turned and walked back to the bottle that she left on the counter and poured them each another drink. 

Clarke hopped onto the counter and Bellamy handed her the glass before taking his spot leaning against it. Usually, she wasn’t one to drink to try and have a conversation, but she figured it would be the best in their situation. The silence stretched between them as they sipped on their drinks, but then:

“How’s Raven?”

“She’s doing better,” Clarke said softly, a smile trying to pull at the corners of her lips. “She’s going crazy being bed ridden.”

“I’m not surprised.” Bellamy looked down the hall before looking back towards Clarke. “How did you find everybody?”

_ No one else told him? _ Clarke thought for sure that someone from his house would have told him the story of how Clarke ended up bringing in Raven, Harper, and Jasper. It wasn’t a secret. Clarke looked down at the glass in her hands, and her thumb ran around the rim of it. But, before she could answer, there was the sound of the key turning in the lock that brought Clarke out of her head and she slid her eyes to Bellamy.

“Maybe I’ll tell you later.”

Clarke’s people spilled in through the door, along with Octavia, Miller, Murphy, and Monty and the house was nearly thrown into chaos. More drinks were poured, snacks were handed out, and then Clarke and Harper helped Raven out of the bed and into her wheelchair so she could join the rest of their people out in the living room. 

Instead of Bellamy hanging out in a corner like how Clarke expected him to, she noticed him walk towards the couches and she tilted her head towards the empty armchair. He looked from between her to the empty spot before walking towards it, and Clarke saw Octavia smile over at her big brother as he joined them. 

_ Well, one step at a time _ .

Like the other times that Bellamy’s people were there, the conversation flowed freely and even though Bellamy didn’t exactly add much to the talking, Clarke saw him smile a little more, and he even laughed a couple of times. Clarke blamed it on the alcohol, but she liked his laugh. It was warm, and deep, and she noticed how the corners of his eyes crinkled. It wasn’t much, but it was  _ something _ .

When the potatoes finished cooking for the hour, the fish was put into the oven while Clarke began splitting the potatoes in half, and she jumped when Bellamy appeared beside her. They didn’t say anything as they looked at one another, but Clarke slid over to the side a little and gave Bellamy more room to work as he pulled the sour cream, green onions, whole milk, and cheese out of the fridge and she grabbed the salt and pepper. 

It made sense why he was helping her, since they were supposed to be cooking for their people, but Clarke couldn’t deny that it felt comfortable. Especially since Bellamy seemed to understand that Clarke  _ did _ know what she was doing when it came to cooking, but they also didn’t talk so that was probably a reason, too.

Wells came up to the island where they were preparing the potatoes and took a seat at one of the stools, and Clarke looked up at him before cutting into another potato. “Need something, Jaha?” The corner of her mouth turned up, and she didn’t need to look at Wells to know he was smirking.

“No, I just came to annoy you.”

“Like you ever stop,” Raven called over her shoulder, and Clarke snickered.

“Here.” Clarke took a spoonful of the potato mash and handed it over to Wells. “What do you think?”

“I think it could use some more salt.”

“You always think everything could use more salt.”

“Well, am I wrong?”

“You’re certainly not right.”

“Says who?”

“Me,” she huffed, then grabbed the container of salt and added more to the bowl. Wells chuckled and Clarke did the same before she got a new spoon and handed it over to him.

“Much better.”

“Good. Now, leave me alone.”

“Bossy.” Wells continued to smile as he slid off the stool, but he wasn’t gone for long when another drink appeared to Clarke’s left and she winked at him before taking a sip.

Surprisingly, her and Bellamy worked really well together. Definitely better than Clarke expected. Kane had told her that Bellamy was smart, strategic, but she wouldn’t know how he operated under pressure unless they did a few scenarios to get an understanding of how everyone worked. As the food was finishing up, Clarke mulled everything over in her mind.  _ Sooner rather than later _ .

When the fish finished and vegetables were drained, everyone gathered around the kitchen to make their plates, and Clarke made one for herself and Raven before sitting on the floor next to her friend. She knew that Raven hated being like this, hated feeling helpless, but there wasn’t anything she could do.

Everyone else also gathered around the living room after they loaded down their plates and the T.V. was turned on while they ate. For the most part no one really talked, but the conversation from earlier drifted in and out, between bites and during lulls in the movie that was playing. It was a quiet night home, and Clarke liked it that way.

* * *

Bellamy honestly didn’t know what to think about any of them, let alone Clarke. She was the girl who made him get rid of his gun, even if she did ask everyone else to put theirs up, too, and the one who had him join the rest of the group when he would have been fine sitting off to the side. But, she was also the girl he cooked with, and had a couple of drinks with, and whether he wanted to admit it or not, she wasn’t  _ that _ bad. Sure, she could be a pain in the ass whenever he tried to offer her help, but he understood where she was coming from. She wasn’t used to someone questioning her, just how he wasn’t.

At some point, despite the fact that everyone had something to eat, it was clear to Bellamy that he wouldn’t be getting any of his people out of Clarke’s place that night. Monty and Jasper were already propping each other up on the floor while they passed a joint back and forth between themselves, Octavia was laying next to Harper on the floor under a pile of blankets, and Miller and Murphy already looked like they were down for the count. It was the same for Clarke’s people, too.

Bellamy could also feel himself getting tired, but he attributed that to the drinks he had. In fact, he still had a double in his glass when he realized that Clarke wasn’t with everyone else. When he looked, she was pouring herself another drink and, it had to be the alcohol, he picked up his drink and walked towards the kitchen.

She glanced at him when he leaned against the counter, but like most of the time they spent around each other, neither of them spoke. She leaned onto the counter as she took a sip of her drink, and Bellamy allowed himself to take her in. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a haphazard bun now, and her dark gray shirt was falling off one of her shoulders as she looked into the kitchen. She was attractive, but Bellamy knew that he couldn’t let himself think about that. Even if it was the first thing he noticed.

_ I’m going to have to get along with her. Work with her.  _ Indra had told him that she talked to Kane and while they were taking into account the fact that Raven wouldn’t be able to assist very much, they couldn’t wait for her to be completely recovered. They didn’t have enough time for that.

“I think the kids are down for the count,” Clarke whispered, and the corners of Bellamy’s mouth turned up.

“The kids?”

“We are responsible for them, aren’t we?” Her blue eyes were sharp as she looked at him, and Bellamy found that he couldn’t look away.

“Yeah, I guess we are.” 

There was a slight tilt to her lips as she brought her glass up and took a sip, but the quiet moment was broken when there was the sound of what sounded like a chainsaw breaking through the open space. Clarke laughed.

“Jasper’s out.”

“Monty does the same thing,” Bellamy said, smiling.

“Did he tell you that everyone always called him and Jasper ‘the twins’?”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t sure why until—”

“You realized that they’re basically two parts of one person?”

“Pretty much.”

Clarke’s smile widened as they looked at each other, and Bellamy could feel his perception of her shift.  _ Looks like she was right about having a drink _ . Suddenly, Bellamy got an idea and it was almost like Clarke could sense it because she raised an eyebrow at him.

“What?”

“How would you feel about sitting out on the balcony?”

“As long as you don’t bust my window.” There was a spark in her eye as she looked at him for a beat before she grabbed her drink and led the way out of the kitchen and towards the sliding door. 

Instead of leaning against the railing, she took a seat on the concrete and threaded her legs through the bars and Bellamy found himself doing the same. It was nice, sitting up there and looking out at the rest of the city, but he couldn’t imagine having to live there. He liked the quiet of where their house was.

“We’re going to have to get along,” Clarke said softly. “But we can’t be drunk every time we have to talk.”

“Why not? It’s not like we’re going to be planning anytime soon.” He didn’t look at her, but Bellamy would almost swear he could hear her snort. 

They sat there for a little longer without speaking, and the sound of the liquid in their glasses was mixed with the faint sound of Jasper snoring and the cars that drove by on the street below them. It was weird, sitting with the girl who he didn’t want to be around just a few hours before, but Bellamy couldn’t say it was something he hated.

“I’m sorry about your dad.” The words were out of his mouth before he could catch them, and Clarke stiffened beside him. 

_ Fuck. _

“Who told you?” Her voice was quiet, almost to the point where Bellamy expected the words to get carried away in the wind.

“I talked to Indra,” he admitted. “I don’t know anything other than that.” He chanced a look at her then, and she rolled her lips together.

“I’m sorry about your mom.”

“Kane?”

“Yeah.”

The two of them fell back into silence for a moment, but then: “My mom and Wells’s dad had my father murdered.”  _ What? _ “We both ran away from home at sixteen after emptying out our trust funds. We stayed where we could and we ended up meeting Raven and her boyfriend one night at a bus stop. All of us teenagers trying to run away from whatever was haunting us.”

“Raven had a boyfriend?”

“His name was Finn.” Clarke clicked her tongue. “He, uh, tried to get with me when Raven wasn’t home one day and we kicked him out. None of us know where he’s at right now.” Bellamy wasn’t exactly sure  _ what _ to say to that, but Clarke continued. “We picked Harper up after that, she was at one of the homeless shelters. And we ran into Jasper at another bus station.”

“And Kane?”

“That part is a little more complicated.” 

Bellamy took a sip of his drink and leaned back onto one of his hands. “I asked Indra for a job when I was eighteen, and when I told her about Octavia she kind of took us in immediately. Then I met Miller, and Murphy, then Monty. It wasn’t until it was all of us that she brought up this whole operation.”

“Kane came to us with an offer. Apparently he recognized me and Wells and then looked into everyone else. Asked people about us...he knew about my dad when we finally sat down and talked with him, but Azgeda didn’t have anything to do with it. I don’t know  _ why _ —” Clarke’s voice rose but she took a deep breath, and Bellamy fought the urge to reach out and touch her. “We made the decision as a group to do this, but after we agreed Kane pulled me aside and told me he had an extra offer.”

Bellamy felt something pulling at the back of his mind, like he already knew the answer before he asked: “What was it?”

“Revenge.”

_ Of course, it was _ .  _ How could it not be? To have her own mother kill her husband… _ “Revenge won’t bring him back, Clarke.”

“I know.” She sounded so  _ sad _ and Bellamy could feel it pull at his heart. “But at least bringing down Azgeda will do some good in this world.” 

Bellamy didn’t know how to respond to that, but that’s how the two of them stayed. Sitting silently side by side and watching the city move below them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...thoughts?
> 
> If I'm being honest, it's kind of hard to get back into the mindset of this fic so if this chapter seemed kind of off then that's why, but I'd love to hear what all of you think!
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx

**Author's Note:**

> Your comments and kudos are always appreciated xx
> 
> You can find me on...  
> Tumblr: xxawalkinwonderlandxx  
> Twitter: awalknwonderlnd


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